This past week I was excited to be given the opportunity to give Blue Apron a try, thanks to a recommendation and the generosity of a friend who raves about the service!

Ingredients for 3 full recipes…

Delivered to my doorstep…

And based on my food preferences…

Now I can get with that 🙂

Delivery day and food preferences all up to me, then Blue Apron does the rest!!

Once dropped on my doorstep, everything to make the chicken, seafood, & vegetarian dishes as selected came beautifully labeled and organized, all in the exact amounts that I would need!

Now we all know that I’m not big on recipe following. Never been my style. But after what has been a few crazy work weeks and a past weekend spent out of town, my brain was more than ready for an easy work week meal plan…

I wasn’t sure how much I’d rave about these recipes but I have to say that overall, after the first go-run, I was beyond pleased with how this dish turned out!!

It took some time to prep, but nothing that wasn’t manageable even after a 10 hour day at work 🙂

And y’all, seriously, this garlic gouda cheese sauce spiced with a touch of paprika could probably be poured over anything and make it a million times more delicious. Just sayin… it was really freakin’ good!!

I still have two dishes left to give a try and am looking forward to them both, as they are both right up my food alley…

Just like the good ol’ days back at JMU. Before a night out on the town?

Only this is many steps up from the pizza dinner of those days…

We just saved that for the next day. Ya know 😉

This recipe such had awesome flavor y’all. And was super easy to throw together. I can’t take much credit for the idea though, as it wasn’t mine!

Combined with all these great flavors, I must say that the pappardelle really makes this dish. These hearty egg noodles that Fanatic Mom gifted me from Trader Joe’s were the perfect touch to all these flavors…

This even tastes pretty darn good straight outta the fridge the next day. Not that I would know 😉

This was a throw together recipe that I did most of the sous cheffing for, so these cooking instructions aren’t exact 🙂

1. Boil pasta according to direction. Drain and reserve a bit of pasta water.

2. Saute chicken thighs in olive oil over medium heat for about 2-3 minutes, stirring. Add onion and garlic, cooking another 2-3 minutes. Add in asparagus and a bit of the pasta water (a few spoonfuls), season with salt & pepper. Continue to cook, stirring occassionally, until asparagus starts to get tender (about 7-10 minutes). Lastly, add in tomatoes, olives, artichokes and a splash of white wine and continue to cook until the tomatoes “burst” (about 5 minutes).

1. Saute onion and carrots in 1 tblsp sesame oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes until they start to soften. Add mushrooms & garlic and season with salt & pepper, cooking another 10 minutes. Remove the veggies from the pot.

2. To same pot add another 1 tblsp sesame oil and cubed chicken breast, cooking over medium until chicken begins to brown a bit and cook through (about 5 minutes).

3. Add veggie mixture back to pot along with chicken broth and H20. If you have more broth on hand, use it, I just ran out :). Bring soup to a boil, cover, and turn down to a simmer for 20 minutes.

4. At this point bring soup back up to a boil, add the chopped kale and quinoa and cook 10 more minutes until quinoa is done.